State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Has $1.98 Million Stake in Provident Financial Services, Inc $PFS

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its holdings in Provident Financial Services, Inc (NYSE:PFS) by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 112,849 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,862 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Provident Financial Services were worth $1,978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFS. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 447.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,230 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services during the 1st quarter valued at $311,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 649,485 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $11,152,000 after acquiring an additional 16,941 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Provident Financial Services by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 184,312 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $3,165,000 after acquiring an additional 13,931 shares during the period. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services during the 1st quarter valued at $426,000. 71.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Provident Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of PFS stock opened at $18.44 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $19.42 and a 200-day moving average of $18.14. The company has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.41 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Provident Financial Services, Inc has a one year low of $14.34 and a one year high of $22.24.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 17th. The savings and loans company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $114.54 million during the quarter. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 18.76% and a return on equity of 9.72%. Equities research analysts forecast that Provident Financial Services, Inc will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Hovde Group boosted their target price on shares of Provident Financial Services from $22.50 to $23.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Provident Financial Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Provident Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Provident Financial Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Provident Financial Services presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.70.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John Pugliese sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.91, for a total value of $497,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 87,907 shares in the company, valued at $1,750,228.37. This represents a 22.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.90, for a total transaction of $59,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $788,696.70. This represents a 7.04% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Provident Financial Services Company Profile

Provident Financial Services, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Provident Bank that provides various banking products and services to individuals, families, and businesses in the United States. Its deposit products include savings, checking, interest-bearing checking, money market deposit, and certificate of deposit accounts, as well as IRA products.